Shot of Adrenaline
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day forty-eight: Kurt goes to check out Vocal Adrenaline and meets one of their singers.


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a second cycle. Now entering the seventh through ninth weeks, here comes cycle 3 of my gleekathon! _

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**"Shot of Adrenaline"  
Kurt/OC**

It had been easier to just go. Rachel wasn't going to leave it alone, and it was less painful to just make the drive up to Carmel… it was certainly quieter. Why it had been that she'd selected him to go and see what Vocal Adrenaline was working on these days, he didn't know, and he didn't mind keeping it that way.

So he'd borrowed his father's car – he'd yet to entrust him with his own again – and made the drive. Mercedes was going to accompany him, but had needed to pull out at the last minute and he'd been left on his own.

Driving up to Carmel High, he came to a stop, turning off the radio and pulling off his sunglasses as he looked to the school. The first time he'd come to see Vocal Adrenaline, they had come off as the Big Bad Wolf. They were remarkable, making their merry band of six look like a selection of tasty lambs, ready for the picking. The second time hadn't been all that better. This was his third look at them, and since their second visit, his club had been working… Vocal Adrenaline would still crush them.

The path clear for him to make his entrance into the school, he slipped his sunglasses back on, adjusted his hat and fixed his collar, before getting out of the car and going up toward the auditorium.

Just as he was reaching the path to the door, he felt something knock into his shoulder and he stumbled, stopping himself from falling by grabbing onto a rail. He discovered the thing that had chucked him was a boy his age, dressed in black save for his blue suspenders. The boy stumbled as well, steadying instantly. He hadn't seen Kurt, but as his dash steadied, he turned.

"Sorry!" he spoke quickly before continuing his turn to continue into the school. He stopped a step later, turning back to observe his victim closer. Kurt was readjusting his 'disguise,' but it was too late. "Pinocchio…" the boy spoke absent-mindedly. That got Kurt off disguise fixing.

"Excuse me?" his eyebrow raised. The boy smiled, having completely forgotten his hurry.

"You're from… that club…" he tried. Kurt pulled off his sunglasses, now that he'd been discovered.

"Did you… call me 'Pinocchio?'"

"I did… I do that sometimes," he shrugged, "To remember people."

"Good job then," Kurt nodded. "We came to your rehearsal weeks a…" The boy's face showed he was now remembering.

"Rehearsal… I'm late…" he started to head back, then once again stopped and looked back to Kurt. "Well, come on…" he indicated for him to follow. Kurt hesitated, his plans for subtle observation now completely shot. Finally though, thinking of what would happen if he reported back to Rachel empty-handed, he followed.

"Victor Haskell," the boy offered his hand as they walked in.

"Kurt Hummel," he shook Victor's hand.

"Nice to meet you… officially. Hey, stick around after, alright?" Kurt looked over at him, caught off-guard.

"Okay. What are you guys working on?" he asked casually. Victor smirked to himself.

As Kurt sat in the back of the Carmel auditorium, the stage was in the dark, but he could see the Vocal Adrenaline members moving into position. The boys were up front for once, and Kurt started searching out Victor from among them. He blinked, sat back in his seat, waiting for them to start.

Some of the lights came on, the music started, and so did the motion. The song revealed itself as "Black and Gold." The rest of the lights splashed on as the boys began to sing, backed up by the girls. Kurt spotted Victor on the left side of the formation. As a deserving part of Vocal Adrenaline, he was very much the outstanding performer. Now that Kurt 'knew' him, he kept his eyes on him. He remembered him now, if vaguely, from their past visits.

Midway through, Victor had a solo. Kurt certainly had nothing to critique there. The rest of the song went along, and Kurt only then realized that he hadn't been paying all that much attention to the rest of the club, which was what he'd been sent to do in the first place…

Oh well…

The rest of the rehearsal was spent much in the same fashion of finding his focus otherwise occupied from his intended task. What he was seeing from Victor was someone with a lot of care. He could see it in how he interacted with the rest of the club.

When at last the rehearsal ended, Kurt awaited Victor's return. He felt his phone vibrate and he jumped, reaching for it. Rachel had sent him a text message. He shook his head, moving to reply.

"Who's Rachel?" someone spoke over his shoulder. Kurt shut his phone and stuffed it into his pocket, as Victor climbed over the row of seats and sat by Kurt. "Girlfriend?"

"No," Kurt coughed and chuckled at once. "No… No, no," he shook his head. Victor's smirk said millions, though Kurt may not have caught on to all of it. He did understand that Victor was on to the impossibility of Kurt and "girlfriends."

"Wait, let me guess… Short brunette, possibly on caffeine drip?"

"That's the one," Kurt bowed his head.

"Did she send you here?" Victor realized and asked at once. Kurt nodded. "Wow…" he went on.

"Yeah, she would have come herself, but… I don't know, I may have tuned her out after a bit," he admitted.

"I can imagine that," Victor nodded. "So how far is… where are you all from?" he asked.

"McKinley, Lima," Kurt told him.

"Lima," Victor repeated. "Would make it hard to hangout." He remarked. "I would like to see what your club's like some time."

"Well, we… you might need these," Kurt held up his hat and sunglasses. "If Rachel sees you, she might haul you out."

"Give me your phone," Victor chuckled. Kurt did so, watching as Victor entered his number and e-mail. "Let me know how it goes with boss lady," he returned the phone to a smiling Kurt. "Later," Victor told him before heading off.

Kurt left Carmel wondering what had just happened… and realizing he had not thought of Finn once.

THE END


End file.
